To Guide Us With A Light of Love
by quiet-heart
Summary: A Christmas special. Danny tries to help a lost little girl and gets lost himself.


_A/N: and a Merry Christmas to all. This is my version of a Christmas Special. I know this is early but with my work schedual... Anyway, this story is one of three stories that stand alone but can be combined if you read all three CSI stories set in three different locations. Read, review, and enjoy and may the spirit of Christmas find you._

**To Guide Us With A Light of Love**

_I was walking home from school on a cold winter day  
Took a shortcut through the woods, and I lost my way  
It was getting late, and I was scared and alone  
But then a kind old man took my hand and led me home  
Mama couldn't see him, oh but he was standing there  
And I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers._

Natalie Metcalf was lost, really lost. And she was scared too. Somehow she'd gotten separated from her mom during the crowd rush in the downtown area and now the snow was falling, making it hard for her to see. She was really cold too. Despite her mom's advice to stay in one place if they ever got separated, Natalie had been pushed and shoved around by strangers until she was completely disorientated.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed but she was sure it was quite a while, due to the fact that the sun was higher in the sky. She shivered again, huddled in the doorway she'd found that was sort of out of the snow. Frightened, she began to pray for Jesus to send her an angel to guide her, just like her mom had always taught her to do whenever she got scared.

Danny Messer, NYPD CSI, shined his light around yet another cranny in an alleyway, hoping to spot little Natalie Metcalf. According to her mother, Mrs. Metcalf, her daughter had gone missing in the downtown rush-hour crowd about two hours before and, understandably, the NYPD was out in full force, trying to find the little girl before something really bad happened to her. That included Danny, which explained why he was searching an alleyway for a little girl.

"Natalie!" he called. Somewhere in the distance, he heard someone else call for the little girl. No answer.

Danny wasn't much of a religious man, but he sent a silent prayer to the Higher Up anyway, for a little help and a bit of hope finding the girl before things got worse. After all, no kid deserved to be in a situation like this.

Natalie heard someone calling her name but she wasn't sure; the wind had picked up and night was falling. She was really scared now and began to cry. She knew bad people were about and knew there were some people who had no problems with hurting little girls like her; she'd heard the stories often enough, even though she was only six years old.

"Jesus, please, _please_, send me an angel to help guide me home, _please_," she prayed desperately.

"_Natalie!_" Danny called again. He was near Central Park and growing concerned. It had been almost three hours since Natalie had gone missing and, while he held out hope for her, he knew the longer it took to find her, the chances of finding her alive and well were decreasing steadily.

"C'mon, Big Guy, be nice and let us find her," he muttered.

Suddenly, he slipped and tumbled down a hill. Cussing and swearing, he went head-over-heals down the slippery slope. When he finally landed at the bottom of the hill, somehow managing to retain his flashlight, he was pretty dizzy and covered in snow.

Then he saw a flash of a blue coat, just like the one Mrs. Metcalf had described Natalie as wearing.

"Natalie?" Danny called, getting up carefully. "Natalie Metcalf, is that you, kiddo?"

Natalie heard someone call her name and her fear grew. How did that person know her name? Scared, she peeked around a tree she'd gone behind to get out of the wind in the park, and spotted a tall man with messy brown hair, glasses, flashlight and a dark blue coat, flashing the light around. He had a bit of a beard and a mustache, what Mommy called shaped face-fuzz, like Uncle Peter's. Why was he calling her?

"Natalie!" Danny called again, swearing he saw something. He moved towards the blue flash and saw a frightened face peer out from behind a tree. He recognized her instantly.

"Natalie, it's okay, I'm a police officer," he called. He moved forward and hit a patch of black ice. He slipped and promptly landed with an undignified thump on his backside. In doing so, he heard a loud _CRACK_ as he landed square on his cell phone, which he'd had in his back pocket.

He cussed, both in pain from the landing, and from the fact that his cell was probably busted, which was confirmed when he took it out and examined it. He tried turning it on but it wouldn't work.

"Damnit," he cussed. There went any chance of alerting the other cops that he'd found Natalie. "This is just not my day."

"Are, are you okay, mister?" Natalie called hesitantly.

"I'm okay, kiddo, just slipped a bit. Are you Natalie Metcalf?" he asked, getting back up carefully. Oh yeah, he was going to have some serious bruises. A hot bath was looking really good right about now.

She didn't answer but looked at him with wide, scared eyes.

"I'm Danny Messer and I'm a cop," he said, taking out his badge and showing it to her. "You want a closer look?" he asked. She nodded, curious, and he tossed the badge to where she was.

She carefully picked it up and studied it. It looked real. "You're really a police officer?" she asked. Danny nodded. "You don't look like one," she accused.

"Because not all cops wear uniforms," he said. "I work with the Crime Lab and it's my job to investigate crimes."

"Oh."

"Listen, I spoke to your mom and she said to say that the password was _Saint Patrick's Cathedral Rectory_." This was indeed the password Mrs. Metcalf had given the officers, saying that Natalie would understand. The church was a particularly large church and a prominent landmark on Madison Avenue. Her family was Christian and the church was a favorite place of Natalie's because of all the artwork in it.

Natalie recognized the password and her fear of Danny turned to relief. Only Mommy knew the password and if she'd told Mr. Messer, that meant Mommy trusted him with their secret. She was safe.

Natalie eagerly came out from behind her tree and ran to Danny, grabbing his hand and giving him back his badge. He knelt down and quickly checked her over. "You okay, kiddo?" he asked.

She nodded. "I'm kinda hungry though, and cold," she admitted.

Danny took off his scarf and wrapped it around the little girl before digging in his pocket and pulling out a granola bar. He said, "It's not much but it's something until we get you back to your mom."

She eagerly accepted it but remembered her manners. "Thank you, Mr. Messer. Would you like a piece?"

"No thanks, kiddo, and you can call me Danny. Mr. Messer sounds to formal for my liking."

She giggled at that.

"Now, shall we see about getting you home?" Danny asked. Natalie nodded eagerly and Danny looked around, trying to find a familiar landmark. Somehow, during his two tumbles, he'd gotten seriously disorientated and now he wasn't quite sure where they were. There were no familiar landmarks or signs to tell him, or at least give him an idea of where he was. He looked at the sky to try and see where the sun was, if that could help, but the clouds hid the sun. He looked back at where he'd come from and made a rough calculation.

"Looks like we head back that-a-way," he said, gesturing behind them.

They walked for several minutes, Natalie happily skipping beside him, sure that she would be home safe. However, the longer they walked, the more Danny became concerned. The sky was growing darker and Danny was becoming more and more disorientated as the snow fell heavier.

Then it happened again; he fell. He slipped down yet another damn hill and this time, his glasses flew off. He cussed when he heard a crack that meant only one thing; his glasses had just been broken.

"Danny!" Natalie cried in distress, running up to him. She tried desperately to help him get up but she was only a little thing and, try as she might, she couldn't help him get up.

Danny struggled to get up, struggled to see, knowing the little girl was depending on him to get them to safety, but he couldn't see a darn thing, thanks to his glasses being busted, and the blinding snow wasn't helping. Neither were the cold and his growing headache.

"Oh, I really, really, _really_ wish Jesus would send us an angel," Natalie whimpered, clearly very worried and frightened as she cuddled up to him.

Then, suddenly, as if someone had hit a dimmer-switch, the snow eased off, as did the wind. He blinked, trying to get the snow out of his eyes, and saw a grey blur moving steadily towards them. Oddly enough, the blur seemed to have a glow surrounding it.

"Look, Danny, it's my angel!" Natalie cried eagerly, pointing at the approaching figure.

The snow crunched and someone crouched down in front of him. He found his glasses being put in his hand and he quickly put them on his face, wiping the lens and blinking a few times. That's funny; he swore his glasses had been broken but they were fine now.

When he looked up, it was to see a woman wearing an ankle-length coat in heavy dove-grey wool with a deep round hood, Mandarin collar, fitted bodice, and held shut by dark grey Chinese frogs. The sleeves were wide trumpet sleeves that had been sewn completely shut except for a small opening for the grey leather-covered hands and the hood, sleeves, and bottom of the coat were all edged with a wide, dark grey fur trim. The collar and edges of the coat opening were edged with dark grey piping and one could see grey fur peaking out from under them. The wind whipped around her, revealing dove-grey winter boots.

"Thanks," he said as he accepted the hand and she pulled him up easily. She smiled at him and he swore it felt like his whole body had suddenly been filled with a warm, loving, sunshine. Suddenly, he didn't feel quite so cold anymore and his head didn't hurt quite so badly.

"Are you alright, Danny?" she asked. She had a soft, almost musical voice and there was something about the way her curly hair framed her face and the gentleness of her eyes made him want to trust her completely.

"I'll be okay, thanks," he said, wondering if the woman in front of him really was an angel, or at least an earth-bound one. He normally didn't put too much faith in angels but right now he felt like he really wanted to believe in them, especially this woman. "How do you know my name?"

She smiled at him. "I know everyone's name," was all she said.

"Do you know where we are?" Natalie asked the woman.

"Yes, I do. Are you lost?" she asked, crouching down in front of the little girl and adjusting her coat and scarf so she was a bit warmer.

"Kinda," Natalie admitted.

"I think we got turned around and I'm having a heck of a time seeing the signs or any visible landmark," Danny admitted.

"Of course. Where are you trying to get to?" the woman asked, smiling warmly. Danny told her. She nodded. "I can take you there. But you have to hold on to my hand, okay?"

Natalie eagerly grabbed the woman's hand and then took Danny's hand securely in her small one. Then they started walking.

Danny wasn't sure how long they walked or the direction they walked in. All he could really remember later was that not once did he feel really cold. Instead, he felt warm and peaceful, like he'd waken to warm sunshine after a long, cold, grey, winter. He couldn't remember what he, Natalie, or the woman had talked about. The one thing he later found really odd was that it had never occurred for him to ask the woman's name or where she was from.

Suddenly Natalie cried out. "Look! Police cars!"

Someone spotted them and a cry rang out, quickly followed by others.

"There they are!"

"Danny!"

"Natalie!"

"Mommy!" And Natalie took off running for her mom, who had tears of joy running down her face.

Mac and Lindsey ran up to him, and Lindsey gave him a hard, tight hug.

"Are you okay? What happened?" she demanded.

"Damn snow blinded me and I got lost, just as I found Natalie," Danny said.

"What about your cell?" Mac asked, leading him towards a truck where hot coffee and blankets waited for him.

"I slipped and landed on the damn thing," Danny confessed, showing them the busted cell. Then he looked around, confused. Where was the woman?

"Who are you looking for?" Mac asked, noticing Danny's searching eyes.

"There was a woman with us, in a grey coat and curly hair. She lead us out of the park," Danny said.

"What woman?" Lindsey asked, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"You and Natalie were alone," Lindsey said.

"That's not possible," Danny protested, quickly walking back to where he knew their footprints would be. He stared at the snow in confusion. There were only two sets of footprints; one small set belonging to Natalie and one set he identified as belonging to him. Where there should have been a second set was only smooth snow.

Mac and Lindsey joined him, now very confused. "I swear there was a woman with us. She knew my name and said she knew everyone's name. Natalie called her an angel. She found us and guided us out of the park just when I was starting to think we were in very serious trouble," Danny explained.

"Do you remember what she looked like?" Lindsey asked.

Danny scowled as he tried to remember. The only thing he could remember was curly hair, a long grey coat, and a feeling of trust and safety, of peace. He knew he'd looked at the woman square in the face but for the life of him, he could not remember what she looked like. He admitted to such.

"That's unusual," Mac admitted.

"Maybe she really was an angel," Lindsey said, guiding her friend back to the warmth of the Emergency van.

Later, Danny caught up with Natalie at the NYPD where her mom was filling out reports and thanking the officers involved in the search. He'd had a warm shower and gotten some coffee and food in and was feeling much better.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted her as he sat down next to her. She smiled at him as she ate her soup that someone had kindly gotten her.

"Hi Danny!"

"Listen, do you remember what the lady looked like, the one who found us?" he asked.

Natalie scrunched up her face as she tried to remember. Then she shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I remember feeling safe and warm with her, though. I think she was an angel, sent by Jesus, to help us."

"What makes you say that?" he asked.

"'Cause I prayed really, _really_ hard and Jesus always hears our prayers. He knew I was scared and He sent you to find me and when we got lost, He sent the angel to help us find our way home."

"You really think so?"

"Yup. That's why I can't remember what she looks like but I remember feeling safe and warm. If we always knew what Jesus' angels looked like, we'd always be searching for 'em. It's best that we don't remember what they look like or search for them 'cause it lets them help us better," Natalie explained with the simplicity of a child.

"Hmm," was all Danny said.

Later, Flack insisted on giving him a ride home. "Just to make sure you don't get lost again," the detective joked. As Danny prepared leave the building, something in the glass doors caught his eye. It was _her_, the woman who'd rescued them. As he stared at the reflection, she smiled at him and winked. He spun around but there was no one there. He spun around to face the glass again but the reflection was gone.

"What the heck?" he muttered. "I must be more tired than I thought."

In Flack's car as the detective drove through the streets of New York, the radio was on and a song was playing.

_Oh I believe there are angels among us  
Sent down to us from somewhere up above  
They come to you and me in our darkest hours  
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give  
To guide us with the light of love._

_When life held troubled times, and had me down on my knees  
There's always been someone to come along and comfort me  
A kind word from a stranger, to lend a helping hand  
A phone call from a friend, just to say I understand  
And ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road  
That someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope._

Curious, Danny listened to the song. Flack noticed this and said, "Want me to change the station?"

"Nah, that's okay. This isn't a bad song."

Flack chuckled. "Never knew you were a country fan."

"I'm not, I just appreciate good music," Danny shot back, grinning, continuing to listen to the music.

_Oh I believe there are angels among us  
Sent down to us from somewhere up above  
They come to you and me in our darkest hours  
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give  
To guide us with the light of love._

_They wear so many faces, show up in the strangest places  
To grace us with their mercy, in our time of need._

_Oh I believe there are angels among us  
Sent down to us from somewhere up above  
They come to you and me in our darkest hours  
To show us how to live, to teach us how to give  
To guide us with the light of love._

"Light of love indeed," Danny said, smiling to himself. "I owe you one, Big Guy. Happy Birthday."


End file.
